Peoria should “fall on its sword” in Twitter debacle, says local paper

You gotta know when to hold 'em—and when to fold 'em.

It's time for Peoria to capitulate. That's the tone of a recent op-ed in the Illinois city's main newspaper, the Peoria Journal-Star, after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced plans to sue over the town scandal dubbed "Twittergate."

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Peoria came to national attention over the last few weeks in the wake of a police raid on a local home, sparked by nothing more threatening than a foul-mouthed Twitter account opened in the mayor's name. Though the account had less than 50 followers, City Hall asked the police to investigate. Despite initially finding that no laws had been broken, the police changed their minds and obtained four search warrants, ultimately raiding a University Street home in a search for the account owner. (They found some marijuana and plenty of electronic gadgets, which they planned to search for evidence.)

The local state's attorney declined to prosecute the case, though, saying the statute in question didn't apply. Now the ACLU plans to sue the city over violations of the First and Fourth Amendments (free speech and unreasonable search and seizure, respectively).

"We hope this action will send a strong signal to all that wrongful use of the police power to suppress protected speech, even when it is critical or makes fun of public officials, is an abuse of power and is not acceptable," said the ACLU this week.

The Peoria Journal-Star is now urging city officials to settle the matter as quickly as possible. "Some lawsuits are worth fighting on principle, even if they expend taxpayer dollars, but this is not one of them," wrote the paper in the wake of the announcement. "Unsympathetic though the plaintiff may be with the vulgar comments that drew the mayor’s ire, well, the First Amendment protects even those. Beyond that, we do think this particular search and seizure stretched the boundaries of what’s reasonable, making it highly questionable under the protections afforded by the Fourth Amendment."

Instead, the city should "fall on its sword" so long as it can do so "without inviting another lawsuit that seeks monetary damages, which is not the ACLU’s cause."

As for the one person arrested in the police raid, he continues to face marijuana possession charges unrelated to the Twitter account—but his attorney now plans to ask a judge to throw out the evidence because the legal basis for the warrant was incorrect.